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A wildly successful alternative to traditional day spas?its more than 300 locations blanket 36 states and half a dozen countries?Planet Beach Automated Spa is a futuristic relaxation atmosphere where state-of-the-art machines administer all the spa and tanning services. These friendly automatons sometimes replace familiar treatments, as in the Luminous facial, a light-based service that delivers blemish-busting results similar to those of a conventional facial. But other equipment maps out new spa territory entirely: the Hydro-Derma Fusion chamber moisturizes the whole body with nutrient-rich steam in order to offset the effects of a dry climate or a rear-end collision with a salt truck. Other machines whiten teeth, spray tan skin, and massage muscles. Planet Beach operates on a gym-style membership system, meaning that members purchase packages or pay flat monthly rates. As members spend more time at the spa, they get to know the helpful assistants who are always on hand to demonstrate how to use the equipment without activating its ability to cry.

The stylists at Fantastic Sams keep things simple?but that doesn't mean plain. At salons scattered across the US, the mane-makers fill a head of hair's everyday needs with services such as adult cuts, bang trims, and facial styling. They also go beyond basic services with texturing treatments, foil highlights, and hair relaxers more effective than simply slipping some gin into the shampoo. All services are complemented with their trademark FantasticStyle shampoo therapy, a treatment that includes a three-minute scalp massage and a nourishing argan-oil serum.

A one-two combo of total-body bliss, both of the featured services refresh the epidermal, muscular, and cranial regions of guests. During the 30-minute express massage, the skilled massage therapists can implement any combination of techniques––including Swedish, deep tissue, reflexology, and the gentle Babe Ruth, among others. Products from brands such as Eminence and Biotone enhance skinly satisfaction with each well-tuned stroke. To amplify the muscle-melting magic, dayscaping guests immerse themselves in the detoxifying infrared solar sauna, which is designed to ease tension, open pores, and clear the mind of worries about how to draw a realistic-looking horse.

Sun Your Buns' mobile airbrush tanning gives clients a full-body sunkissed glow in their own home. Airbrush applications take place in a transportable tanning tent to help avoid any unwanted bronzed coffee tables. The skilled tan technicians apply a full-body mist of a tanning solution containing DHA, which works with the skin’s own keratin to darken it naturally. The treatment typically takes about 30 minutes, and results can last up to 10 days. The process eliminates the need for harmful UV rays, letting customers enjoy a golden gleam without the risk of wrinkles and sun damage.

Though the walls of Bella Brazilian Wax are predominantly white, a few signature splashes of bright-pink and baby-blue paint bring the space to life. The clean and modern decor belies the sophistication of the approach taken by the studio?s licensed estheticians. The Bella staff use their warm and friendly approach to offer clients of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to be professionally pampered. To that end, they are trained in using an authentic Brazilian hard wax, which solidifies and pulls off unwanted hair from delicate areas without the mess or yanked skin of traditional strips. A Bella esthetician can lift fuzz from a brow or upper lip, or provide a full-body session that works well for hard-to-manage areas, such as the underarms, Brazilian, and full legs.

Groupon Guide

Despite its reputation for lively nightlife, spicy Creole cuisine, and brassy Dixieland jazz, the French Quarter boasts a lineup of luxury day spas where visitors can wind down and adopt the Big Easy's famous, carefree attitude.
Ranked #2 on Travel + Leisure's list of the World's Best Hotel Spas in 2011, the Ritz Carlton’s spa stays true to its Southern roots thanks to a design scheme that recalls the beau monde interiors of 19th-century New Orleans—note the luxurious satin fabrics and baroque furnishings—and a selection of New Orleans–inspired treatments. The Marie Laveau Voodoo Love Massage and Bath pays homage to the famed voodoo practitioner with flickering red candles, earthy aromatherapy oils, and voodoo music.
Known for its rotating carousel lounge and literary history, the Hotel Monteleone can also count Spa Aria among its many assets. Spa Aria transports clients to the tropics with treatments that incorporate organic awa puhi ginger scrubs, kukui nut oil, and detoxifying Kauai clay. The boutique spa's staff also inject a "breath of fresh air" (its signature tagline) into the traditional spa formula by using only products that have not been tested on animals and giving a preference to those that exhibit a philanthropic or environmental philosophy.
Those opting to stay away from a landmark hotel will seek refuge at Riverside Day Spa and Nails, tucked into a quaint storefront on Iberville Street. The intimate boutique spa provides an extensive menu of hair, skin, and body treatments, including foot reflexology, citrus salt scrubs, and hot-stone or deep-tissue massage. Fingers in need of some post-sightseeing freshening can find themselves lengthened and strengthened with gel, solar, or acrylic tips, while feet tired from keeping time with the city's brass bands find relief during the platinum pedicure, which pairs a lanolin silky sea-salt treatment with a citrus silk massage, minty mask, and paraffin-soaked hot towels.